When wig-wearing Joe Pesci is wildly ranting in Oliver Stone’s JFK, he sums up the craziness by describing the assassination this way:

“It’s a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma.”

He happened to be paraphrasing Winston Churchill in the scene, but he could have been summarizing the Canucks’ current goaltending situation.

Cory Schneider returned to the ice Sunday but was on his own. He was with the team for the first time in a week Monday. He stayed out late, looked quick and appeared well on his way to starting Game 1 of the playoffs Wednesday.

Off it, he looked gassed. Maybe that’s because he spent five days away from the rink.

Then again, maybe he has the flu; or mono; or maybe even the bubonic plague.

He pretty much got asked about all of it.

Schneider last played a week ago against the Chicago Blackhawks. There was no obvious sign of an injury. Did he feel something pull or tear during the game, later that night or the next day?

“I don’t know, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m not going to answer you, because I don’t know.”

Wait, he doesn’t know when he was injured?

“Well, I know when I was injured but I don’t know if the team wants me to let you know,” he said. “So, if I don’t know, I’m not going to say.”

OK, then.

Schneider was asked point-blank if he was sick. He said no. He was asked if he had mono. He said no. He was asked if he lost weight.

“If anything, not skating every day, maybe I put on a pound or two,” he said.

The speculative questions make some sense. Schneider was sick and missed an April 10 start in Calgary. He was sick on Feb. 24, which is apparently why Alain Vigneault left Roberto Luongo out for all eight goals in Detroit.

Anyone think about the bird flu?

Behind the scenes, Canucks’ management remains incredulous with those who have suggested Schneider didn’t suffer an injury. But they sure don’t mind the information vacuum fuelling this mystery, which has left everyone guessing, including the San Jose Sharks.

If people are going to report Luongo will likely start Game 1, and they have, all the better for the Canucks. It gives the Sharks more to prepare for, and the credo leading up to the playoffs is generally that the more confusion you can create, the better.

The Canucks are adamant that Schneider was hurt. It’s a minor injury and the team was overly cautious in keeping him off the ice for five days. It’s always remained likely he’d start Game 1, but it’s never been guaranteed.

Schneider needed to progress through several steps, which began Sunday with a controlled 30-minute skate supervised by goalie coach Rollie Melanson, to test “it.”

“We didn’t do a whole lot,” Schneider said. “(Monday) we put it through a more rigorous, you know, put myself through a more rigorous workout to see how it responds.”

It means any reports on Schneider’s health before Sunday were entirely premature.

Luongo wasn’t ready to play doctor, but he did say Schneider was “feeling pretty good.” None of this changes Luongo’s seat this postseason. It’s essentially in limbo. He has to act like he’s still going to be the starter.

But before he could get to that, he had to get over what happened Saturday night, when he was embarrassed for six goals in the third period and stormed out of the rink, refusing to do post-game media for the first time in his Canucks career.

“I want to apologize for taking off,” Luongo said. “That’s not my style usually. I had a moment there and needed some time to myself.

“I was upset with myself. It’s tough to get embarrassed like that. It’s happened one too many times for me. I was fuming, that’s the right word, I think.

“It was better for me to sit on the bus rather than say some things I would have regretted later on.

“I felt if I were to stand there and say a few things, something wrong would have come out.”

He chose not to elaborate, making it unclear on which topic he was concerned about saying something he’d regret.

But head coach Alain Vigneault was worried enough that he approached Luongo, Schneider and Melanson Sunday to ask them all what he should do when he sees his goalie is getting ventilated. The goalies told him they want to stay in, and that’s what goalies always say.

But Vigneault could have pulled Luongo, say, after the fourth goal, and it probably wouldn’t have taken him two days to recover mentally.

Luongo acknowledged it took him a relatively long time to be in a position where he was able to turn the page on Saturday night.

“Not until (Monday) at practice,” he said. “I had a good practice and that’s usually what it takes to move on. You get on the ice, and you feel good about yourself again. Then, you move on.

“It’s tough to sit on a game like that. (Sunday) was not my best day.”

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the “X” in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

101 Greatest Canucks

The Province and its panel of experts have identified the 101 greatest Canucks of all time. See their choices!